The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Extant I 4951
Race
Division
Probably of the Noldor2
Culture
Settlements
Gondolin (Elemmakil's duty was to guard the city's Outer Gate)
Passes
Guarded the Hidden Way that led into the Orfalch Echor
Pronunciation
ele'mmakil
Meaning
'Star sword'
Titles
Captain of the Dark Guard

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About this entry:

  • Updated 18 September 2024
  • This entry is complete

Elemmakil

Captain of the guards of Gondolin

A Noldorin Elf, the captain of those who guarded the outer entranceway to Gondolin. The secret path to that great city led through a cavern in the wall of a Dry River to the Gate of Wood, the First of the Seven Gates of Gondolin. It was this gate that Elemmakil and his men guarded, and it was here that he encountered Tuor and Voronwë, journeying to Gondolin at the command of Ulmo. Elemmakil was their guide through the Seven Gates that guarded the Orfalch Echor, until he gave them into the keeping of his own captain, the Warden of the Great Gate, Ecthelion of the Fountain.


Notes

1

Our only specific encounter with Elemmakil is at the time that Voronwë led Tuor to Gondolin in the deep winter of I 495. He would have been an inhabitant of Gondolin since its founding in I 116 (and indeed Voronwë confirmed that he knew Elemmakil, even though he had left the city years beforehand). Of his origins before this we can only speculate, though he would probably have dwelt with Turgon's people in Nevrast and (assuming that he descended from the Noldor) he might have originated in the West.

Of Elemmakil's fate we know nothing. As a soldier of Gondolin, he likely perished in that city's fall in I 510. Alternatively, he might conceivably have been among those who escaped the disaster and made their way to the refuges at the Mouths of Sirion but, if so, he is not named as such.

2

There were both Noldor and Sindar living in Gondolin, and since we're not specifically told which of these people Elemmakil belonged to, he might in principle have belonged to either of them. His high station and especially his Quenya name imply that he was probably one of the Noldor, but this is not stated explicitly, and he might conceivably have originated among the Sindar of Nevrast.

See also...

Dark Guard, Outer Guard

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 18 September 2024
  • This entry is complete

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